MORE SILVERWARE FOR AUSTRALIA
SNOWBOARD cross racer Jarryd Hughes has taken Winter Olympic silver, Australia’s third medal in Pyeong Chang.
French world No. 1 Pierre Vaultier claimed gold and Spaniard Regino Hernandez bronze, with Australian Alex Pullin crashing out in Thursday’s final to place sixth.
World No. 9 Hughes, a Sochi 2014 quarter-finalist who has endured knee surgery five times, was the less fancied of the two Australian finalists with Pullin ranked second in the world. But the 22-year-old negotiated the course as other competitors crashed to be in a late three-way race for gold, making up ground on a runaway Vaultier in the dying stages as he narrowly held off Hernandez.
“Oh mate, it’s happy days. Happy, happy days,” Hughes told the Seven Network. “I think it hit me when I was there giving my mum and dad a hug. A few tears.
“I’m just happy to see all the hard work paying off and working out.
“I’m just so happy to be here and walk away with that re- sult.” Americans Nick Baumgartner and Mark Dierdorff were fourth and fifth respectively.
Two-time world champion Pullin improved on his quarter-final exit four years ago but failed to finish as he took a fall while getting air.
“I couldn’t land that one. She was dead flat but all in all I had a really fun day racing,” he told Seven.
“It was pretty unpredictable and a fair bit going on in there, so I’ve just got to take away the positives. That’s the flattest landing I’ve ever had and I was really trying to stomp it which is not a good idea but that’s it.”
Hughes’ form leading into the Games was inconsistent, with a World Cup gold medal in December followed by three results outside the top 20. An X-Games winner, he started the day poorly when a slow start relegated him to 25th in the first seeding run, outside the 24-man cut-off and meaning he would have to undertake a second qualifying run.
He looked far more comfortable on his second attempt, before winning his heat in the first round of finals, placing second in his quarter-final and finishing behind winner Pullin in the semis.
Hughes follows moguls skier Matt Graham (silver) and halfpipe snowboarder Scotty James (bronze) as Australian medallists at the Games.
Australian Cameron Bolton was last in the four-man small final to finish 10th overall.
He had his arm heavily strapped before his final race after falling in the semis and was only able to push off with one hand. Countryman Adam Lambert was out in the first round of finals after being clipped from behind by falling Lluis Marin Tarroch of Andorra.